Montenegro legislates fast. In 2026 alone it replaced its companies law, its competition law, its electronic signature law and its data protection law, amended its tax, payment and brokerage laws, and adopted a new VAT Act that will not apply for years. Most of it is published in Montenegrin only, and most summaries report the date a law was adopted rather than the date it starts to bind anyone.
This page is a running log of the 2026 changes that matter to foreign property owners, company founders and employers. Each row gives the Official Gazette issue, the date the rule applies, and one sentence on what changed. We separate three dates that Montenegrin laws often split: publication, entry into force, and application. A law can be in force and still not apply to you.
The log was last checked on 28 September 2026 and is updated monthly.
The 2026 log
| Published | Act | Official Gazette | Applies from | What changed | Who it affects |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025, applied 1 Jan 2026 | Companies Act and Business Registration Act | 90/25, 121/25; 92/25, 121/25 | 1 January 2026 | Both old laws replaced; electronic registration, a 7-day duty to register changes, compulsory liquidation after two years without financial statements (Art. 622) | Every company founder and director |
| 10 Mar 2026 | Real Estate Transfer Tax Act amendment | 33/26 | 1 April 2026 | Building land sold with VAT, like new buildings, is no longer subject to transfer tax (Art. 6) | Buyers of land from VAT-registered sellers |
| 27 Mar 2026 | Amendments to the Companies Act and Business Registration Act | 44/26 | 2026, from entry into force | Article 10 of the Companies Act rewritten: electronic founding without physical presence for a d.o.o.; paying capital into an EU bank deferred to accession | Founders forming a company from abroad |
| 2 Apr 2026 | Competition Protection Act (new law) | 46/26 | 2 April 2026 | Old law repealed; mergers need approval where two parties have over €5 million combined Montenegrin turnover, or over €20 million worldwide with €1 million in Montenegro; standstill until approval | Buyers of Montenegrin companies and assets |
| 30 Jun 2026 | Electronic Identification and Trust Services Act (new law) | 92/26 | 8 July 2026 | Old e-signature law repealed; a qualified electronic signature equals a handwritten one (Art. 68); recognition of EU qualified certificates deferred to accession (Art. 64) | Foreign directors and buyers signing remotely |
| 16 Jul 2026 | Payment Transactions Act amendment | 103/26 | See the Act's transitional provisions | Instant payments and payee name verification for domestic transfers (Arts. 56g to 56v); transfers from abroad, including the EU, stay outside these rules (Art. 57) | Banks, fintechs, anyone paying within Montenegro |
| 16 Jul 2026 | Labour Act amendment | 103/26 | 16 July 2026, on publication | New duties for a user employer taking workers from a staffing agency, including health-and-safety measures and informing the agency (Art. 58(2)) | Employers using agency staff |
| 17 Jul 2026 | Tax Administration Act amendment | 104/26 | 18 July 2026 | Reporting of cross-border tax arrangements (DAC6), crypto-asset user reporting (DAC8) and related transparency duties | Advisers, crypto platforms, groups |
| 17 Jul 2026 | Corporate Income Tax Act amendment | 104/26 | 1 January 2027; ATAD chapter from EU accession | Withholding on company loans to individuals above €5,000 a year (Art. 28a); anti-profit-shifting chapter written but deferred (Art. 45a) | Shareholders borrowing from their company, groups |
| 17 Jul 2026 | VAT Act (new law) | 104/26 | Day of EU accession (Art. 213) | A complete new VAT Act; the existing Act, with its 21% rate in Art. 24, keeps applying until then | Every VAT-registered business |
| 23 Jul 2026 | Visa Regime Decree, consolidated | 108/26 | 1 November 2026 for the new visa requirements | Visa requirements introduced for several nationalities, including Turkish and Russian nationals; the bilateral visa-free agreements were denounced on 24 September 2026 with notice periods | Investors and staff from affected countries |
| 3 Aug 2026 | Whistleblower Protection Act | 114/26 | 4 August 2026; internal channel within 90 days | Employers with 20 or more staff must run an internal reporting channel | Employers |
| 3 Aug 2026 | Real Estate Brokerage Act amendment | 114/26 | 11 August 2026 | Deadline for agencies to enter the public register moved to 13 August 2027; higher fines, including for brokering from residential premises | Buyers, agencies |
| 11 Aug 2026 | Montenegrin Citizenship Act amendment | 119/26 | 19 August 2026 | The Article 11 marriage route extended to registered life partners; nothing else changed | Foreign partners of Montenegrin citizens |
| 4 Sep 2026 | Rulebook on technical requirements for building structures | 130/26 | 12 March 2027 | Six structural design rulebooks merged into one; in force 12 September 2026, applies six months later | Developers, designers, buyers off-plan |
| Sep 2026 | Real Estate Transfer Tax Act amendment | 132/26 | 10 September 2026 | A same-sex life partner is treated like a spouse in the transfer tax exemptions, including the first-home exemption | Couples buying or inheriting |
| Sep 2026 | Criminal Procedure Code amendment | 132/26 | 17 September 2026 | Written notice of rights, interpretation, and new rules on searching digital devices | Foreign defendants and victims |
| Sep 2026 | Law on processing personal data by police and judicial bodies | 132/26 | 17 March 2027 | Data protection rules for law enforcement; parts deferred to accession | Anyone whose data police hold |
| 11 Sep 2026 | Personal Data Protection Act (new law) | 133/26 | 19 March 2027 | GDPR-style law replaces the old one; fines up to €2 million or 4% of turnover; EU standard contractual clauses deferred to accession | Every company processing personal data |
| Adopted 16 Sep 2026 | Judicial Cooperation in Criminal Matters with EU Member States Act | Not yet published | Day of EU accession (Art. 194) | European Arrest Warrant and nine other EU mechanisms; replaces the 2018 Act on accession | Cross-border criminal cases |
What is still a bill
Two packages are moving through the system and are not law as at 28 September 2026:
- The EURO MODEL package. On 17 September 2026 the Government adopted bills that would set pension and unemployment contributions to 0%, raise the minimum wage and cut corporate income tax to two bands (9% up to €100,000 and €9,000 plus 15% above) from 1 January 2027. We track it in the EURO MODEL note.
- The residence-for-investment bill (EPA 1181). A proposed amendment to the Foreigners Act on residence for investors. It is a bill, not a programme, and its status is in our page on whether Montenegro has a golden visa.
A bill changes nothing until it is adopted, signed and published. We add a row to the log when that happens.
Three things the log shows
The date that matters is the application date. The VAT Act, the data protection Act and the structural rulebook are all published and in force, and none of them applies yet. The VAT Act waits for EU accession; the data protection Act waits until 19 March 2027; the rulebook until 12 March 2027. The full list of provisions waiting for accession is in our register of laws that apply from EU accession.
Tax changes arrive through amending laws, not new codes. The 2026 changes to transfer tax came in two short amending acts, 33/26 and 132/26, and the loan withholding rule sits in one article of a larger package. Free consolidated texts often lag behind them. The rates in force today are collected in Montenegro tax rates 2026.
Company law changed completely. Anyone relying on a guide written before 2026 is reading a repealed Companies Act. The new Act's rules on who can sign for a company are set out in who can sign for a Montenegrin company.
Our notes on individual rows
- The e-signature law: what binds under the 2026 trust services Act.
- The loan withholding rule: withholding on company loans to individuals.
- The deferred anti-profit-shifting chapter: the corporate tax amendments in 104/2026.
- Whistleblowing: the duty on employers with twenty staff.
- Brokerage: the agent register deadline of 13 August 2027.
- Transfer tax: same-sex life partners and the exemptions, and the full scale in the buyer's guide to transfer tax and VAT.
- Data protection: what the 2026 Act changes.
- Criminal cooperation: the European Arrest Warrant Act and its accession clause.
Whose side we are on, and how we are paid
Every other professional around a Montenegrin transaction is paid out of the transaction. The agent's commission depends on the sale completing. The developer's sales team belongs to the developer. The notary owes duties to the act, not to you. That is not a scandal; it is simply how those roles are funded, and it decides what each of them is able to tell you.
We take no commission from sellers, developers, agents or brokers. None, in any form, on any file. The fee you pay us is our only income from your matter, and it does not increase if you sign. That single fact is the whole difference: because our position does not move when the deal moves, "do not buy this one" costs us nothing to say.
What that looks like in the file, rather than in a slogan: we obtain the register extracts ourselves instead of accepting the copies handed over by the seller or the agent; we read the contract against your position rather than against completion; we put in writing when the answer is that the matter should not proceed; and where a defect can be cured, we tell you what it costs in time before you commit money.
One boundary we state plainly. We are lawyers, not licensed investment advisers. We do not give personal investment advice on financial instruments and we do not tell you whether an asset will make money. What we protect is your legal position: the title, the contract, the registration, the status, and the deadlines that decide all four. That is the service the fee buys, and paying for it directly is precisely what allows it to be given without regard to whether you sign.
Before you rely on a guide
If a structure, a purchase or an employment plan depends on a Montenegrin rule, check which version of the law applies on the date you act, not the date the guide was written. Send us the plan and we will tell you which act, which article and which date govern it. Company matters sit with our company formation practice, tax with our international tax practice, and property with our real estate practice.
